while thrushes are cosmopolitan (and more generic). We of course can always say "Númenorians did it!", but the general audience might be buzzled by a non-Old World animal in a supposedly Medieval fantasy world.

Btw, does anyone still remember the "what animal is accompanying Radagast in the concept art seen in a vlog?" discussion? Many suspected it was a vallaby, and questions arose of whether this would be accpetable or not. Well, the same concept art was seen in high-res in the leaked Hobbit art book scans... and the animal was one his giant rabbits. But every word you say today Gets twisted 'round some other way And they'll hurt you if they think you've lied